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True Hospitality is welcoming the stranger on her own terms. This kind of hospitality can only be offered by those who've found the center of their lives in their own hearts.

Henri Nouwen

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Henri Nouwen
Age: 64 †
Born: 1932
Born: January 24
Died: 1996
Died: September 21
Catholic Priest
Presbyter
Priest
Psychologist
Theologian
University Teacher
Writer
Henri Jozef Machiel Nouwen
Terms
Term
Welcoming
Lives
Hospitality
Found
Offered
True
Center
Home
Welcome
Heart
Stranger
Kind
Hearts

More quotes by Henri Nouwen

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This sounds very simple and maybe even trite, but very few people know that they are loved without condition or limits.
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The resistance to praying is like the resistance of tightly clenched fists. This image shows a tension, a desire to cling tightly to yourself, a greediness which betrays fear.
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As a general remark, I would say we must move from the moral to the mystical life.
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...the word that seems best to summarize the desire of the human heart is 'communion.' ...wherever we look it is communion that we seek.
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Compassion can never coexist with judgement because judgement creates the distance, the distinction, which prevents us from really being with the other.
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When we break bread and give it to each other, fear vanishes and God becomes very close.
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Once we deeply trust that we ourselves are precious in God's eyes, we are able to recognize the preciousness of others and their unique places in God's heart.
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Is my growing old making me any closer to Christ? Am I only getting older or am I getting more godly?
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The evangelical movement has become just a bit victimized by a success-oriented culture, wanting the church - like the corporation - to be successful.
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'How much longer will I live?'... Only one thing seems clear to me. Every day should be well-lived. What a simple truth! Still, it is worthy of my attention.
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The Question is not how much are you going to accomplish? Or can you show some results? But are you in love with Jesus? In our world of brokeness and despair, there is an enormous need for men and women who know the heart of God a heart that forgives, cares, reaches out and wants to heal.
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Simply being with someone is difficult because it asks of us that we share in the other's vulnerability, enter with him or her into the experience of weakness and powerlessness, become part of the uncertainty, and give up control and self-determination.
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Writing is not just a job. It helps me to pray. It's a way of being.
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The man who can articulate the movements of his inner life need no longer be a victim of himself, but is able slowly and consistently to remove the obstacles that prevent the spirit from entering.
Henri Nouwen
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Intimacy is not a happy medium. It is a way of being in which the tension between distance and closeness is dissolved and a new horizon appears. Intimacy is beyond fear.
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In our own woundedness, we can become sources of life for others.
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In solitude we realize that nothing human is alien to us.
Henri Nouwen
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Learning to weep, learning to keep vigil, learning to wait for the dawn. Perhaps this is what it means to be human.
Henri Nouwen
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The Church will always be renewed when our attention shifts from ourselves to those who need our care. The blessing of Jesus always comes to us through the poor. The most remarkable experience of those who work with the poor is that, in the end, the poor give more than they receive. They give food to us.
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The spiritual life is a reaching out to our innermost self, to our fellow human and to our God.
Henri Nouwen